ICYMI: Atlanta Unemployment Rate Down in August

A record low number of Atlanta residents were out of work in August, mirroring a statewide unemployment rate that hasn’t been this low in seven years, data released from the Georgia Department of Labor on Thursday shows.

Atlanta’s unemployment rate between July and August dropped from 6.7 to 6.3 percent, according to preliminary unemployment figures for August. There were 230,742 people in Atlanta’s workforce in August, compared to 3 233,114 in July. Furthermore, only 14,566 Atlanta residents were unemployed in July, compared to 15,611 in July. In August of 2014, Atlanta’s unemployment rate was 8.3 percent.

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The statewide unemployment rate of 5.9 percent in August was one-tenth of a percentage point down from July and 1.2 lower than a year ago.

“This is the first time Georgia’s unemployment rate has dropped below six percent since May 2008,” State Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said in a news release. “The rate declined as our employers laid off the fewest workers for any month in more than 15 years and continued to create jobs.”

The labor department said the number of initial claims for unemployment insurance in Georgia fell 25.8 percent in August, and 15.4 percent in the past year. Meanwhile, the number of jobs in Georgia has grown by 2 percent.

Butler encourages job seekers to utilize the GDOL’s new job listing service, EmployGeorgia, where employers posted 75,207 jobs throughout the state in August. Visit www.employgeorgia.com to learn more.